Twas the Night of the Yule Ball
by VenusDeMilo
Summary: A Response to the Christmas Challenge at WIKTT : The SS/HG version of "The Night Before Christmas." Lots of holiday goodness. Read and Enjoy.


**'Twas the Night of the Yule Ball**

****

By Jen / VenusDeMilo

'Twas the night of the Yule Ball, and all through the school

Not a soul wasn't dancing, not even the ghoul;

The ghosts were all singing with holiday cheer,

And not even Peeves could come up with a jeer;

Only one teacher stayed nestled up in bed,

While visions of Voldemort danced in his head;

But I in my drunken Christmas obsession,

Decided his scowls were just a repression,

"I will teach him the meaning of Christmas!" I cried,

"This is not a day to be surly and hide."

Down to the dungeons I flooed like a flash,

Sprinkled on the powder, and jumped in the ash.

It was dark when I got there, reeking of gloom,

Without even one window it looked like a tomb.

His rooms were like him, unpleasant and eerie,

I could not believe that the man was so dreary.

To make him like Christmas would not be so easy,

He wouldn't respond to something just cheesy.

I formed a new plan, a most brilliant notion,

And went to his workroom to whip up a potion:

With mandrake, with nettles, with snake fangs and tails!

Some ginger, some knotgrass, some spiders and snails!

I mixed them together, from boil to simmer,

Bottled it up when it started to glimmer.

Then I crept up beside him, and looked at his face,

Saddened that of happiness there wasn't a trace.

I knew there and then that I was doing right,

So I jumped up atop him with all of my might.

He woke shouting and thrashing, his mouth open wide,

Quick as a cat I poured the potion inside.

It took only a moment for it to take hold,

In ten seconds flat Severus Snape was out cold.

"Follow me!" I cried, and with a wave of my hand

In a sleep walking style he started to stand.

I dressed him up warmly and zapped us below,

To the lawns of the school and the fresh fallen snow.

As we landed he woke, his eyes wide and blinking,

And he murmured to himself, "Have I been drinking?"

He noticed me then with some slight apprehension,

And stared at me dumbly without comprehension.

I smiled at him, with my whole face aglow,

And as sweet as I could I delivered the blow.

"A potion?" He cried, "To make me feel happy?"

"I want the antidote! Go, make it snappy!"

I told him that no brew would cause the to potion clear,

The one way to stop it was to feel Christmas cheer.

Before he could answer me, I pulled him along

Forcing him to join me in a holiday song.

The potion worked magic, he could not be grim,

And soon he was singing a new yuletide hymn.

I could not believe it, he was perfectly gay,

Before I knew it he was begging to play.

We made our snow angels, and forts out of ice,

And had such great fun we had snowball fights twice.

Then as a finale to my fabulous plan,

I pulled from my robes a present for the man.

He took it from me full of delighted surprise,

And I swear I could see a new light in his eyes.

Like a small child he ripped off the paper,

But then all of his cheer vanished like vapor.

"Socks," he said mutely, "that go up to the knee."

"Wait," I said to him, "There is more than you see."

"There is a story," I said, "About an elf,"

"Who would never stop beating up on himself."

"But then he was given a sock of old wool"

"And found his old masters no longer had pull."

"This elf," I continued, "is now his own man"

"Free to live his own life the best that he can."

"For you the socks mean you are free to be happy."

I started to cry, because the moment was sappy.

For a moment he stared, but then broke out grinning,

Picked me up off the ground and soon we were spinning.

"Thank you," he whispered, as he set me on down,

"From now on I swear not to live with a frown."

"Now I have no reason to feel sad or blue,"

"Because I have socks to remind me of you."

I gave him a hug, and he gave me a kiss,

And suddenly he made a noise like a hiss.

"The potion wore off!" He said with great glee,

"For Christmas' meaning is now clear to me!"

And I heard him exclaim, as we walked out of sight,

"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!"

_~*~*~*~_

_Author Notes:_

_Here are the Christmas Dinner Courses I used:_

_The Dinner Plate:  I'm counting Hermione as the unexpected visitor._

_Main Course: The Yule Ball_

_Veg__: Making angels in the snow, and learning the meaning of Christmas._

_Starch: Snowball fights, and someone getting socks_

_Gravy:  Well, It wasn't on the list, but I've been listening to the Christmas song from the HP soundtrack._

_Condiments:  Someone is a victim of a potion_

_Puddings:  Someone wakes up somewhere unexpected._

_Drinks:  Uh… I didn't use one.  I tried, honestly, but they didn't fit into the poem!_

_This was written in a fit of inspiration, and I'm too impatient to send it to a beta, so there might be a few mistakes, sorry!_

_Happy Christmas everyone!_

_(Or, as we say in my family to be PC: Happy non-denominational winter festivities!)_


End file.
